Pork Pie

“‘If I could fly, I’d be back at Castle Black eating a pork pie,’ said Sam.” -A Clash of Kings

Medieval Pork Pie with Currants

Thoughts:

When we began to make these, we naively thought, “Two meat pies? We’ll surely have leftovers for days!” They were gone within hours. Like many of our modern and medieval comparisons, the resulting dishes were quite different from one another. Here’s the breakdown:

The medieval pork pie is definitely in the sweet category. The amount of eggs in it makes it fluffier than the modern version, and the currants and ginger only add to the sweetness. However, it is a sweetness that really suits the pork. We might leave out an egg or two in the future, just so the meat holds together a bit better.

The modern pork pie is dense, and is very serious about being pork. It could have used a little more salt, but when dipped in either ketchup or BBQ sauce it is rendered delicious. If you do have leftovers, this pie is wonderful for a quick, cold breakfast straight from the fridge.

Bottom line? Modern is savory, medieval is sweet, but both are delicious, and will be a hit with anyone who can get their fork into one.

**NB: The cookbook contains a tweaked version of the Medieval Pie, and a much more dynamic version of the Modern Pie.**

Our changes: Instead of boiling down our own pork roast and grinding it up, we used pre-ground pork. Much easier! ALSO! This makes a great pairing with the Cream Swans, because you will be able to use the egg yolks for this, and the whites for that. Win!

Ingredients:

1 9″ pie shell with lid

1 1/2 lb. ground pork

1/2 tsp. salt

6 egg yolks

2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup currants

1/2 cup chopped dates

Brown the pork over medium heat. Let cool slightly, and mix well with all the other ingredients – The filling should be very moist. Place mixture in pie shell & add lid. Fold top dough under and pinch edges shut. Cut decorative steam holes in the top of the pastry, and bake at 375° F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a golden brown.

Modern Pork Pie

The new, updated, and totally delicious modern recipe is available in The Cookbook!

Wow, I just finished making the Medieval version, and it’s sooo good! Although I couldn’t find currants so I used craisins instead. We also made two pies, which I was going to serve tomorrow at my premiere party, but they smelled so good we figured nobody will know there was supposed to be 2 lol

Made this for the premier of the GoT show. Everyone loved it. I did make some adjustments I thought I would share. I chose to use goji berries instead of the currants. Also, the pork came in 1lbs. packages so mine had 2lbs. in it and it fit just fine. I also added pine nuts. Wife wants me to make it again.

These look wonderful! I just want to clarify before I get cooking – the medieval version calls for the pork to be browned, but the modern one doesn’t mention it. Should the pork be left raw for the modern version? Thanks!

Thanks so much! We’re doing the modern onion and cheese pie for tonight’s dinner, and will probably do the pork pie next week. Thank you so much for all your hard work – this is such a treat for me and my husband, who love ASOIAF *and* food probably more than we should :~D

I’ve been wanting to make this for a long time and finally tried making the medieval recipe tonight. I love it!
It smelled kind of overly… meaty while i was making it and i was worried that would be a little overbearing, but the sweetness of all the other ingredients balances that out SUPER nicely. If this is what they get to eat at the Castle Black then sign me up ;)

Medieval Pork pie is now one of my favorites. since I couldn’t find any currants though I switched it with apricots, that was good but since both the dates and apricots were dried it was a little dry, so I made another one and used black berries in place of currants and it’s prefect.

Wow! So excited. I cook A LOT, but never have tried medieval recipes, so when I heard your piece on NPR today, I couldn’t wait to check out your site! This is great. The pork pie looks awesome. Thanks!

I made this Sunday this incredible recipe and it was “glorious”!! It was so delicious!! I made the medieval recipe and used agave syrup instead of honey and it was perfect! One of the best dishes I’ve ever made from your fantastic cookbook!

I do not have a pie plate at the moment and can’t seem to find even a disposable one anywhere but want to make this tonight- instead of making two separate pies do you think it would work to make one big square shaped ‘pie’ in a casserole dish?

I had a bash at the pork pie. Its an odd flavour, but I think thats just because of the different range that the modern palate is unused to. It does grow on you especially if you made as much of the stuff as me.

Been looking forward to making this since I first picked up the cookbook! Going to try the medeval version in the oven soon, and if that goes well, going to try it again baked in my Big Green Egg, for a truly authentic “hearth-cooked” experience!

So, something in the pork pie recipe didn’t quite click with me, and I think it was the chopped dates. I was wondering what a good substitute would be. I was thinking perhaps golden raisins, or if feeling very dedicated, very finely minced dried pears.

We LOVE the cookbook. I want to cook the Modern Pork Pie for a dinner party but I want it to be a gorgeous pie like the one shown in the picture. It seems a bit higher on the sides than your standard pie that’s been based in a tin. Can you tell me what you used to get that final look?

Absolutely! The secret is to use a springform pan, which gives you that tall shape. Cook mostly as usual, but carefully take the sides of the pan off to golden-up the sides of the pie a little before the pie is finished.

My husband’s family’s pork pie (French Canadian fur traders) used sage, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon with garlic, potatoes, and onions The meat (ground pork roast) is browned and cooked with garlic, onions and potatoes before being strained and put in the buttery flaky crust. It still manages to be suberbly tasty and rich.